The list of products of the American company Raytheon contains systems of different classes, and it intends to master fundamentally new directions. The other day the company spoke about its desire to develop a new version of the laser missile defense complex, capable of fighting even with hypersonic aircraft. However, Raytheon admits that such a challenge will be extremely difficult.
Next flight to the moon
In recent months, the official Raytheon website has been publishing articles from the series "The Next Moonshots" - "The next flights to the moon". They tell the company's plans for the future related to advanced technologies and fundamentally new developments. The creation of such systems is extremely complex, which is why they are compared with the American lunar program of the past.
The new material in the series is dedicated to laser missile defense systems. Such systems are already being created and tested, but their developers face new challenges. Russia and China announced the emergence of promising hypersonic strike aircraft. The United States needs protection against such threats, and it is Raytheon who must create it.
The creation of a "hypersonic" laser missile defense system is a particularly difficult task and requires the creation of new devices and technologies. It is necessary to solve a number of fundamentally important issues, without which the defeat of a hypersonic aircraft will be impossible. That is why such a missile defense system is compared in complexity to a flight to the moon.
As an illustration of the material about the new direction, they cited a promotional video published last fall. It demonstrated how compact laser systems hit unguided missiles, UAVs and even a helicopter. However, this video is not directly related to the planned work and only demonstrates the general principles of combating air targets.
Challenges and challenges
Although a promising project is similar to existing ones, its creation is associated with certain difficulties. Thus, modern combat lasers are capable of literally burning unmanned aircraft. However, a much larger "number of photons" are required to hit a ballistic missile. Thus, some powerful sources of energy and radiation are needed.
The laser complex needs special optical equipment capable of withstanding high radiation power. Finally, all the components of such a system must be placed on a suitable medium.
This kind of missile defense system may face problems due to issues of visibility. The laser beam does not bend, and therefore the "firing" range is physically limited by the horizon. This can reduce the maximum possible range of destruction of certain targets. The solution may be to place a laser on a spacecraft. The Combat Companion has advantages, but is complex and expensive.
Raytheon believes that the emergence of an effective laser missile defense system can become a deterrent in the field of nuclear weapons. If the United States gets a system capable of dealing with the enemy's nuclear missile weapons with minimal effort and expense, the latter is unlikely to invest in its development.
Difficulties on the way
A recent article from Raytheon is of some interest. It, at least, demonstrates the desire of this company to continue the development of laser technologies, including with the aim of creating means of protection against fundamentally new weapons. However, so far there is no reason to believe that Raytheon was able to move in this direction beyond preliminary discussions and search for major solutions. Moreover, the interception of hypersonic attack aircraft is still absent even in advertising materials.
However, Raytheon is already building and testing laser systems capable of tracking and hitting air targets. In the future, products of this kind may find application in air defense and "traditional" missile defense. On the basis of such complexes and their technologies, it is theoretically possible to create more advanced systems capable of intercepting fundamentally new goals.
The published article lists the main difficulties that one has to face when creating combat lasers for air defense and missile defense. An energy source and a radiation source of sufficient power are required, as well as optical systems and controls. In the context of the fight against hypersonic aircraft, all these problems are exacerbated, and are also supplemented by several characteristic difficulties.
The main factor that determines the combat qualities of a hypersonic strike system is the high speed of an aircraft. It is capable of covering long distances in the shortest possible time, which reduces the time for a reaction from the air defense-missile defense system. In addition, the tracking and tracking of the target with the subsequent issuance of target designation to fire weapons becomes more complicated. All this imposes special requirements both on the detection equipment from the air defense and missile defense system, and on the control systems of the anti-aircraft complex.
To destroy an aircraft, a combat laser must transfer a certain energy to it, and difficulties arise in this area too. The first is the difficulty of aiming a laser beam at a fast-moving object and holding it for the required time. To solve such a problem, advanced means of tracking and controlling a combat laser are required. The second problem is also related to the flight characteristics of the hypersonic system. Such an aircraft is capable of maneuvering unpredictably, and the laser missile defense is obliged to react to its actions, keeping the aiming.
The next difficulty is present in the context of energy transfer. A hypersonic aircraft must have developed thermal protection. The laser to defeat him must be powerful enough to "break through" such a defense. The thermal protection in flight encounters high loads, but this slightly simplifies the operation of the laser. It also depends on the power of the laser whether the missile defense system will have time to hit the target before it leaves the zone of responsibility.
The need to create highly efficient detection tools and a powerful laser emitter negatively affects the overall dimensions and mobility of the entire complex. It also turns out to be extremely difficult to manufacture and operate. However, considerable cost and considerable size are a standard problem for all existing combat lasers capable of developing the required power.
Bold plans
There are only two main takeaways from a recent article from Raytheon. First, one of the leading American arms manufacturers is considering the possibility of creating new air and missile defense systems that meet the challenges of the near future. The second conclusion is that Raytheon is well aware of how difficult the implementation of such plans will be, and they also imagine what tasks will have to be solved for this.
It is curious that at the same time Raytheon will work on hypersonic attack aircraft proper. In particular, a few months ago a corresponding article was published in the "The Next Moonshots" section. It can be assumed that the simultaneous development of promising aircraft and means of dealing with them will to some extent facilitate the achievement of the desired results in both directions.
In its article, Raytheon directly mentions the latest developments in Russia and China. Indeed, the United States views these countries as likely adversaries and acts accordingly. Russian and Chinese military and engineers need to take American statements into account and draw the necessary conclusions. At the moment, hypersonic strike systems are invulnerable to US defense systems, but this may change in the future.
